ironhorse_iv Review of The Forty-First

The Forty-First (1956)

This love story movie made during the Cold War: Warms my heart.

[8/10 · 2 June 2013]

A Soviet Love Story such as Forty First as is one of the best foreign movie, I ever saw. Produced in the Soviet Union, during the height of the Cold War, this film is one of the first significant films to be produced after the fall of Stalinism after de facto leader Joseph Stalin died a few years before this film came out. I was completely wowed by Director Grigoriy Chukhray's film who is most famous for his work on 1959 'Ballad of a soldier'. The film is based on the novel by Boris Lavrenyev and this film is also a remake of the 1927's Soviet silent film also call 'Forty-First' directed by Yakov Protazanov. The film is set during the Russian Civil War of 1919 to 1922 where Bolsheviks Red Army fought against the anti-Bolsheviks Russian Republic. It tells the story of a tragic romance between a female sniper of the Red Army name Maria Filatovna (Izolda Izvitskaya) and her captured prisoner, Vadim Nikolayevich Govorkha (Oleg Strizhenov) from the White Army. Maria is known as a very good markswoman who has already claimed thirty-eight enemy dead. When her unit ambushes a camel caravan transporting White soldiers, she kills two of them and tries to shoot their officer, who will be her forty-first, but misses. The man, a lieutenant named Govorukha. Instead of killing him, due to him stating out that he had secret information that would help her unit. Maria is entrusted with guarding him while shipping him out to their headquarters through the Aral Sea. The vessel capsized in a sudden storm, and only lead Maria and Govrukha alive, stranded on an isolated island. At first, tensions arise by their different attitudes of life, but slowly become charmed with each other to the point that they befriend each other with affection. For a war movie, there is very little violence in this as most of the movie is romantic. I love the Robinson Crusoe references in the movie. The ending is haunting and one of the best shocking endings I ever saw. It's a shame that this isn't generally available, and hard to find. It took me forever to find a copy. Even if you get a copy, you might not have sub-titles. Just to let you know when trying to translate from the Russians, some of the movies copies got their names wrong. In the original novel, the sniper name is Maryutka Filatovna, while the captured prisoner is Govoruha Jr. Depending of what version you able to get, you might get different names. The biggest confusing is the name of the Lt. that she captured alive. There are such names ranging from Govorukha-Otrok to Govorkha Aksenov. The movie has some really great shots that I love. Both in black and white or in color. If you see it in color, the cinematography by Sergei Urusevsky is just amazing with its use of composition and lighting. If you see it in black and white, you can truly love the dark tone and shadowy side of the film. I would say, watch both versions. I like how they shot the Karakum Desert, and this was pre-1962's Lawrence of Arabia no less. This film is beautiful to look at. But its overwrought emotions and simplified ideologies may put off many. There is a bit of Russian melodrama and pre communism propaganda that is a bit disturbing. The whites are made to look like bourgeoisie officers performing acts of unjustified brutality while the Reds as under-supplied and struggling in the face of insurmountable odds fighting for freedom. Still, the propaganda is not too bad that it's nearly unwatchable. The acting is a little too melodramatic to buy into either being real people and their ideological differences are rather crudely sketched. While Maria acts like a man most of the first part of the film, it's time she spent with Govorukha that turns her back into a woman, until the final moments of the film, where she realize she is a soldier first. It's a great character development. The music is stunning as the use of children's choir singing is tear breaking and sweeps through the entire film. Overall: watch the film, and see how Maria must choice between being in love with Govorukha and her duty for her country. Watch her, as she is drawn into a moral dilemma that leads to a heart-rending ending. It's a good shot, that you like this movie as well.